Shoehi "Giant" Baba/Rusher Kimura vs. Stan Hansen/Genichiro Tenryu - Real World Tag League tournament match (11/29/89)

 

THIS right here is a bank full of money. Holy shit was this match just 20 minutes of the fucking greatest shit on earth. As Baba/Rusher are walking to the ring, Tenryu hits a wild out of control tope on Baba that Baba doesn't see coming, and just like Houdini being downed by a sucker punch to the gut, the unexpected...sucker tope (?) takes Baba out for a good 8-10 minutes. He sells it tremendously, ring boys spraying his stomach, Baba feeling around for what might be broken internally, etc.

 

But Rusher is a fucking man, and he will fight one on two, and man is it awesome. He takes the headbutts to Tenryu and Hansen, but pretty soon they're too much. Tenryu is just a monster in this. There were times where it seemed like Tenryu legit hated Rusher and really wanted him injured. He blasts Rusher with such a nasty clothesline at one point that I literally shot forward in my recliner. For the first 10 minutes of this Hansen and Tenryu beat him like that fucker owes them money. A LOT of money.

 

The crowd is into Rusher in a big way though, with tons of loud "Kimura" chants, and there are some GREAT near falls in this. It never felt ridiculous, either, like overkill. Kimura power out of some CLOSE pinfalls and the crowd eating it up was magical. His underdog babyface work was really special here, and he was a mighty underdog. Hansen and Tenryu were just relentless. He would kick out, and Hansen would just come in and stomp his head into the mat while Tenryu would hold him.

 

It all build to the Baba hot tag, and that was awesome, and I fully expected the match to end in some sort of schmozz double count out right here...

 

But Tenryu/Hansen eventually over power Baba as well! Baba's still selling his torso from the unexpected tope, so he's not 100% even though he's had the long rest period. Rusher at this point is just completely gone from the match, he lasted as long as he could and barely made the hot tag.

 

There are some GREAT spots towards the end, where it seems Baba/Rusher might come back and vanquish the hoss motherfuckers, but the hosses are just too damn strong.

 

Once Rusher gets leveled off the apron by a Hansen lariat (and Rusher takes a ridiculous bump off the apron to the floor), it's only a matter of time before Baba gets finished. And it takes a ridiculous neck first powerbomb from Tenryu to do him in. Just a nasty finish for a 50+ yr. old to take.

 

The aftermath features one of the most touching moments I've ever seen in wrestling, as Baba and Rusher hug/hold each other up. It came across as so touching and powerful.

 

So, everything about this match was amazing. I can see this being top 5 for me, no joke. This was 20 minutes of wrestling that I DID NOT WANT TO END. It's funny how Hansen/Tenryu are playing the young punks beating up the old men, as they were both 40 yr. old when this took place. But this is such a marvelous tag match, from Tenryu coldly taking Baba out to put Rusher at a disadvantage, Rusher being one of the most sympathetic face-in-perils I've ever seen, Tenryu/Hansen laying a disturbing beating on Rusher (especially Tenryu), and Baba still trying to hold on for the win, for the fans, for his partner that took an ungodly beating to get him the hot tag, for himself to prove that he still belongs with the "young guys".

 

Amazing, amazing match. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION POSSIBLE.

 

(AJC Retro #1)

Eric covered the particulars well. The Tenryu tope was an awesome way to start the match, and he came off as the meanest motherfucker in the world througout. Kimura was great as the outgunned old man fighting off death with one last headbutt. And Baba turned in a great selling performance, both on the outside and as Hansen and Tenryu did their Julio Cesar Chavez act on his midsection. He also showed great timing on his countershots for such an awkward-looking guy. My only criticism would be that both 2-on-1 beatdowns went a little long. But I guess Tenryu pinning Baba clean was a big deal and needed to be drawn out. The last powerbomb looked sick. Anyway, definite nomination.

No brainer here. Watched it when prepping the Schneider #24 podcast. Should do well on the final ballot.

Real World Tag League: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura (11/29/89)

 

This was awesome as Baba was walking to the ring and Tenryu just launched himself with a tope suicida putting Baba in the railing. Rusher then went to war knowing it was just him for the moment and he brought it to his opponents but they ended up just beating his ass. The crowd was firmly behind him as Baba was being attended to on the floor but the heels were just too tough for him and they forced him to juice heavily. Baba would make it to the apron and the fans are going nuts wanting Rusher to get the tag which he would finally do. Tenryu was such a dick here but Baba would make his ass pay with some hard chops and a big boot then Hansen would get the same as the fans are apeshit. Baba is on fire here for quite a while until he would get the 2-on-1 treatment like Rusher did because Rusher was on the floor trying to regroup. They worked over Baba's injured ribs relentlessly and the stiff chops were awesome but not as awesome as Baba getting the big boot on a running Tenryu. Baba was so great here coming back when he needed to such as getting the backdrop suplex on Tenryu as he was going for his reverse elbow off the middle rope. Rusher would return from the abyss tripping up Hansen as he was going for a lariat so when Hansen got up he laid him out with a lariat for his trouble. Baba catching Tenryu again running with a big boot then moving out of the way then backdropping Hansen over the ropes as he was going for a lariat was great. Tenryu then went for a powerbomb but Baba fell on him the first time so Tenryu tried again and this time he succeeded getting the huge pin over Baba. God fucking damn was this awesome and I think that this match will be one of the biggest favorites on the set as you had everything going on here that is great about wrestling. Grand slam nomination.